Buffalo 20, Carolina 9
Bills bend, but don't break in gutsy victory
Defense comes up with three INTs, setting stage for upset
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The weekly NFL statistics rank every team in dozens of categories.
They do not, however, put a ranking on pride.
The Buffalo Bills' defense responded to its last-in-the-NFL ranking against the run Sunday with a true-grit performance against the Carolina Panthers.
The Bills' defenders held the mighty Panthers running game 30 yards under its average of the past two years and intercepted three Jake Delhomme passes.
The result was a 20-9 upset victory.
"It's not good to be last in anything," said Bills defensive tackle Spencer Johnson. "But this game says a lot about the character of this team, how we're growing together and sticking together. That's what it's all about, sticking together in the bad times. We knew we were going to come out of it if we kept working hard."
The Bills won their second road game in two weeks and improved to 3-4.
"I'm proud of our guys," said defensive end Chris Kelsay. "We haven't looked pretty but we made plays and we put our offense in position to score. We hung in there for four quarters. Never once did they break our will. ... It's better to win ugly than to lose."
The Bills' offense still is a long way from being pretty.
It managed just 167 yards, the Bills' lowest total in a winning effort in the last 20 years. The offense held the ball only 25:20. Bills running backs averaged a measly 1.8 yards on 30 carries. Only twice in the last 20 years has Buffalo had such a low average and won.
Yet the other two facets of the game — defense and special teams — were outstanding.
Great punting by Brian Moorman and good coverage kept the Panthers backed up in their own end all day. The Panthers' average drive start was their own 19.
So the defense had the luxury of bending but not breaking versus the run. And the defense has found a playmaker in the back end.
Rookie safety Jairus Byrd, the second-round draft choice from Oregon, intercepted two passes to set up scores.
The first was a nice running catch over the deep middle of an overthrown ball from Delhomme. Byrd returned it 37 yards to the Carolina 7.
Byrd was protecting deep on the play to his left against Panthers star Steve Smith before coming back to the ball.
"Coming into the game we always wanted to make sure we leaned to him because he's their big-play threat," Byrd said. "The receiver came across on a deep drag route, and the ball was just a little overthrown. He was open. If he had just put it on him he would have completed it."
Two plays later Marshawn Lynch scored on a 7-yard run to put the Bills ahead, 7-0.
Late in the third quarter, Byrd was Mr. Centerfield again, catching a high pass from Delhomme that deflected off Smith's outstretched hand. Byrd returned it 30 yards to the Carolina 27.
"The second one he ran a dig route," Byrd said. "I saw it coming. We've been practicing it all week, and I just stayed back on it and made sure there weren't any double moves. It hit his hand, bounced off and I caught it."
Audio slide show: Mark Gaughan's postgame analysis
Delhomme was miserable, even though he threw for 325 yards on 27 of 44 passing. In April, the Panthers gave their 34-year-old veteran a five-year contract extension with $12 million guaranteed.
The deal looks like horrible timing. In his last seven games counting last January's playoff loss, Delhomme has made 21 turnovers.
"We said during the week Jake is going to force some of the balls, and if he forces some, there's a chance for some to get tipped," said Bills linebacker Chris Draft, who made his first start for the team.
Of course, the Panthers weren't counting on needing much from Delhomme, since the Bills were allowing 182 rushing yards a game and had been gashed by the Jets for 318 last week.
The Bills allowed 116 rushing yards on 25 carries and kept the Panthers from scoring on their first 11 possessions.
"We felt they were going to run the ball certain ways out of certain sets, and we had some special checks for that," said linebacker Paul Posluszny. "So we had a good game plan going in."
Unlike the Jets, the Panthers did not get much on cutback runs against the flow of the play.
"That's something we addressed this week," Kelsay said. "For the most part we held that end of the bargain."
The biggest run stop came when Posluszny stuffed Jonathan Stewart for a 2-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 play from the Buffalo 13 in the third quarter. Draft read the weak-side run perfectly and took out the lead-blocking fullback so Posluszny could make the tackle.
"They had run that play earlier and they got some yards on it," Draft said. "We didn't want them running it again. If you're going to run the same play, we're going to be standing right there."
Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, making his first start for the team, did just enough. He was 11 of 22 for 123 yards. He did not turn the ball over.
Fitzpatrick's best throw came after Byrd's second interception.
On a second-and-goal play from the Carolina 2, Fitzpatrick threw a bullet on a slant pattern to Lee Evans for a touchdown. Evans got inside cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, but the throw got there just before a linebacker could tip it.
"It was basically one of those, looking at who they had on him out there, "I'm going to throw it at you as hard as I can Lee, so you'd better catch it,' " Fitzpatrick said. "It was closing fast, that window, so I gave it all I had behind that throw, and Lee made a great catch."
The offensive players, however, knew the reason for the win.
"Hats off to our defense," Evans said. "They did this for us. We were able to close out a few drives when they gave us a short field. But our defense played great."
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